


Alexandria burning

by obaewankenope (rexthranduil)



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Always, Angst, Aziraphale loves books, Crowley makes promises and always keeps them, He's a bibliophile, I support him, M/M, Promises, Until one day he fails
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 20:29:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19216969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rexthranduil/pseuds/obaewankenope
Summary: He may not exactly go out of his way to cause suffering and the like, but he was still a demon. He had standards. But seeing Aziraphale almost fold in on himself, pull back away from Crowley visibly… That suffering isn’t the type Crowley wants to inflict.Least of all upon Aziraphale.





	Alexandria burning

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr prompt from weareunderthesameskies:  
>  _hey do u wanna think about the first time aziraphale saw a book and marvelled at it and crowley made fun of him for it but then realized the angel really really liked them a lot. one time crowley wanted to make a point about how silly it was that they stored such precious information on flammable material. then the library of alexandria burned down and aziraphale was so upset about it that he didn't talk to crowley for ages._
> 
> This is _very_ short tbh

Aziraphale accuses Crowley of burning the library in an unexpected fit of Honest Upset. Crowley has absolutely nothing to do with the burning itself, but he was somewhat responsible for some of the unrest that resulted in the Burning Of Lots Of Important Knowledge.

Aziraphale is left open-mouthed and so  _so hurt_  that Crowley caused the burning of a place Aziraphale has come to love. It’s one of the first times Crowley feels genuine guilt for doing his job.

He may not exactly go out of his way to cause suffering and the like, but he was  _still_   _a_   _demon_. He had standards. But seeing Aziraphale almost fold in on himself, pull back away from Crowley visibly… That suffering isn’t the type Crowley wants to inflict.

Least of all upon Aziraphale.

He can’t make up for it. Can’t exactly magic back the lost works of poets and philosophers and general knowledge that Alexandria contained. Neither can Aziraphale.

But Crowley can do his utmost to stop it from happening again.

He claims credit for a lot of human deeds which gives him a lot of leeway in hell. Enough that he can subtly prevent some orders being fulfilled, some knowledge from being destroyed, because its his… penance for Alexandria.

Fell bookshop is partly a gift, partly a promise. Crowley, in actions not words, promising Aziraphale that, whilst he doesn’t  _value_  books the same way the angel does, he’ll  _never_  let them burn again.

It makes it all the more heartbreaking when he sees the bookshop up in flames and Aziraphale  _gone_ _gone_   _gone_.

Two promises broken.

Crowley wishes the flames could kill him. Unfortunately his imagination is too strong for the fire to do anything other than dirty his clothes.

The book he takes, crispy and ash-stained, is all he has left of Aziraphale. Of his angel.

 _Let the world burn_ , he thinks, sitting in that pub with a burnt book beside him.  _Let it burn_. Crowley’s world already has.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments sustain me :)


End file.
